After a couple of statement outings in pool play just 24 hours ago, Balanga Chooks was left riddled against world no. 1 Liman, suffering a harsh 9-21 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIBA 3X3 World Tour Masters Doha, Friday evening (Manila time).
The loss officially ended the Doha Masters campaign of the clubs from Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 as Pasig was booted out of the tourney by Riga Ghetto earlier in the day, 15-21.
Pasig ended up at fifth place to pocket USD 5,000 while Balanga finished in sixth place.
Balanga, who defeated world no. 3 Riga and no. 15 Moscow Inanomo to top Pool C yesterday, had a sluggish start, going behind 5-9 midway through the game.
Karl Dehesa, Travis Franklin, and Alvin Pasaol willed Balanga back into the game, trimming the deficit to two, 8-10, before Liman broke the game wide-open.
Stefan Kojic and Maksim Kovacevic knocked down back-to-back deuces that basically shattered the confidence of the Philippine-based club team.
Aleksandr Vasic then poured it on in the paint that gave the Serbians an imposing 20-8 lead.
Franklin, who was limited to just four points after dropping a total of 24 points during the pool stage, scored an easy one with 3:15 left but Aleksandr Ratkov was able to punch Liman’s ticket to a showdown with crosstown neighbor Novi Sad eight seconds later.
After dropping a total of 13 points yesterday, Pasaol was held down to just two markers on just four attempts in the contest. Dehesa chipped in three markers as Santi Santillan, who injured his right ankle yesterday, was still visibly limited with his movement all game long.
Vasic had seven points for Liman on a perfect 6-of-6 clip.
The Scores:
Balanga Chooks 9 –– Franklin 4, Dehesa 3, Pasaol 2, Santillan 0.
Liman 21 — Vasic 7, Ratkov 5, Kojic 5, Kovacevic 4.
